With an Oscar, five Emmys and four Golden Globes to her credit, there’s no doubt Dame Helen Mirren has earned her place in the most elite of “clubs” in the world – the unofficial league of Hollywood icons.
But earlier this month, the MobLand star was invited into an even more select group of high achievers. On June 12, King Charles named Helen a Companion of Honour. It is one of the highest awards the British monarch can bestow on citizens of the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth, and is limited to just 65 people at any one time.
And the 80-year-old screen legend was delighted to accept.
“This is an amazing moment for me,” Helen told fans after being appointed to the exclusive order, whose members include environmentalist Sir David Attenborough, 100, Canadian author Margaret Atwood, 86, our very own opera legend Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, 82, and popstar Sir Elton John, 79.
“I would never have believed this, you know, as a 13, 14, 15-year-old, let alone a 25, 35, 45-year-old, so as an 80-year-old, I’m absolutely thrilled. “My mum was a working class girl from East London, my dad was an immigrant from Russia, so I’m a real mix, but I think of myself as utterly British to the core.”
Admired by royalty
King Charles, of course, is not alone in his affection for the actress – who won her Oscar for her performance as his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in the acclaimed 2006 movie The Queen. Helen’s Fast X co-star Vin Diesel, 58, also recently named her “one of my favourite people on the planet… that auntie you love to talk to, who has seen everything and always has an outlook on life based on experience, wisdom and compassion”.
Despite her upcoming 81st birthday on July 26, The Thursday Murder Club star is still in hot demand in Hollywood and beyond. Last year, she starred in Christmas drama Goodbye June alongside Kate Winslet and this year, she leads the cast of thriller movie A Talent for Murder.
Still shining at nearly 81
Being an octogenarian doesn’t hold Helen back. However, she admits she is sometimes frustrated by the way older people are underestimated.
“People who are retired have had extraordinary, productive, challenging, difficult, professional lives and they’re not finished,” she says.
“It doesn’t suddenly screech to a halt. “Younger people cannot comprehend the fact that the older generation had sex, had fun, danced, were obsessed with their hair and their weight. “And, of course, the older people are looking at them and going, ‘You know what? We’ve done that. We’ve been there.’ “One thing I find galling as I get older is the sort of patronising condescension: ‘Oh, that’s so sweet.’ I hate the word ‘feisty’. I’m alive. Don’t give me those awful labels. I don’t call it growing old. I call it growing up. You constantly grow up through life.”
Why Helen has no regrets
One topic Helen has never shied away from is her open attitude to plastic surgery.
“If women or men are seriously diminished, defeated or depressed when they look in the mirror, and are brought down by what they see and have the financial ability to change it… fine. “I do think because of social media, you can get depressed. Before contemplating anything, get really good lighting in your bathroom so that whenever you look in the mirror, you are lit beautifully and look great. It’s a lot cheaper than getting a facelift!”
Early in her career, Helen resisted the suggestion she should get a nose job and she never regretted it.
“I wasn’t pressured,” she clarifies.
The secret to 40 years of love
“Just some film director told me I’d never have a career unless I had a nose job. It was one rather silly man. “The wonderful, brilliant Barbra Streisand has a profile that is so powerful, strong and undeniably beautiful. It would have been a travesty if she’d had any kind of plastic surgery. “I’m not against plastic surgery, I want to say very clearly. If it makes someone feel better, then why not? Life’s too short to be miserable about elements of your face.”
When she’s not working, Helen loves nothing more than spending time with her husband of 40 years, American filmmaker Taylor Hackford, 81. The pair met when he directed Helen in the 1985 movie White Nights. The couple have worked together on other projects since, but don’t expect to see them team up again.
“I don’t really like collaborating with Taylor, quite honestly,” Helen laughs.
“I love watching him work. I love being with him as he’s planning, as he’s developing, as he’s filming. But I want my work to be separate from him… It works better that way.”
